CSS Grid and Flexbox for Modern Responsive Layouts
CSS Grid and Flexbox are the backbone of modern responsive web design. Grid handles two-dimensional layouts (rows and columns simultaneously), while Flexbox excels at one-dimensional distribution (either a row or a column). Knowing when to use each — and how to combine them — is what separates competent designers from great ones.
Watch: Video Walkthrough
Key Concepts
- CSS Grid: Creating complex two-dimensional layouts with grid-template-columns and grid-template-rows
- Flexbox: Distributing space and aligning items along a single axis
- Grid vs Flexbox: Decision framework for choosing the right tool
- Auto-fit and Minmax: Creating responsive grids without media queries
Hands-On Exercise
Task: Build a responsive image gallery using CSS Grid with grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fit, minmax(250px, 1fr)). The gallery should automatically reflow from 4 columns on desktop to 1 column on mobile without any media queries.
Pro Tips
Use Grid for page-level layout (header, sidebar, main, footer) and Flexbox for component-level layout (navigation items, card content, button groups). This combination covers 95% of real-world responsive layout needs.